Digital Marketing Myths: What Should You Believe?

On the digital marketing grapevine, there are fictions that are often thought of as fact. All it takes is one reputable group of marketers to espouse a methodology, technique, or strategy for it to become gospel.

A few examples: you may have heard that “SEO is dead”, “content is king”, and “everything you thought you knew about [this] or [that] has changed”. It’s not only tiring, but it can be misleading and misinformative too.

So, in our ever-noble pursuit of truth, we’ve compiled a few myths that we are happy to bust. In this blog, we call time on fake news, like the digital whistleblowers we are. Here’s to the truth!

Myth 1: It’s all about the technology these days

Admittedly, technology plays a huge part in digital marketing and you cannot ignore the data. We’re all connected, and there’s no way of going back. However, it’s the strategies and marketing methodologies that have stood the test of time. When you write content, for example, you are still telling a brand’s story.

The communicative aspect remains unchanged. The audience has changed, and the way in which you reach the audience has changed too. But in essence, you’re still reaching out.

So, we’ve not forgotten about traditional marketing. Instead, we based our digital approach on its teachings. Technology just gives us the tools to do what we’ve been doing for years – better and more efficiently.

Myth 2: Negative comments on social are bad for business

We get it: a negative comment or two can look awful and reflect badly on a business. That said, it should be taken with a pinch of salt, because it’s more about how you respond to the comments than what the comments themselves allege.

Part of being a modern business is being responsive and maintaining a line of communication between you and your audience. Take the time to respond to the comments, see things from the customer’s point of view, and offer a solution to their problem.

Show the customer that you care, and you’ll make a bigger impression than you think. It’s good for your company reputation and shows everyone how good you are.

Myth 3: SEO is dead

SEO gives you invaluable insight into user behaviour, giving you a better understanding of what your audience searches for and how they go about it.

SEO is vital for any business, in any industry. Successful SEO practice will secure huge amounts of traffic with a few choice keywords, or you can draw in super-relevant traffic by chasing long-tail variations. It’s adaptable to the size of your business, allowing you to tailor campaigns according to your desired growth.

It’s not dead. It changes constantly, and we must act quickly to keep up. Whether you’re vying for that top spot or building your backlink profile, SEO is a key focus.

Myth 4: You need to be on every social platform

False. Very false. Some platforms just aren’t right for you. A LinkedIn presence will do very little for a trendy cafe, for example, while posting on Instagram is probably going to be quite ineffective for a financial advisor.

Think about your market. Are you B2B or B2C? Focus on the channels that work and the channels that your target audience is present on, and you’ll soon get the results you want.

Myth 5: PPC gets you quicker – and better – results than organic

Although PPC is a more aggressive tactic than organic and often gets quicker results (if you’re bidding enough), there is something to be said for simply boosting organic rankings with great content.